


Natural Adaptations

by 2scoopsrice



Series: Natural Adaptations [1]
Category: None - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Culture, Alien Planet, Aliens, Arguing, Birds, Bugs & Insects, Campfires, Camping, Cooking, Crash Landing, Cross-Posted on deviantArt, Fire, Fish, Fishing, Gen, Human, Lizards, Planets, Plants, Rainforests, Science Fiction, Sharks, Shoes, Survival, Swimming, Trees, Wilderness Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:28:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22144117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/2scoopsrice/pseuds/2scoopsrice
Summary: Three 'friends' crash land in a jungle on another world. They try their best to survive, but their relationships may be tested.
Series: Natural Adaptations [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1651885





	1. Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is kind of boring, but it's really long so it'd be kind of a waste to not post it. Also, the lizard guy in this is the same species as the lizard guy in the last one, he just never named his species. This is only part one because I was kinda sick of writing. I'll do part two eventually, once I get better at writing arguments. (Yeah, Roa and Sani are def boning)
> 
> Originally written: 12/28/19 -1/3/20

“Well, I’m pretty sure this region of the planet is pretty well-trafficked, so with any luck, maybe it won’t be too long?” said Sani. “Yeah, Roa, just think of it as like, an… involuntary camping trip!” “Except, we don’t have any gear. Or anything that one could use to camp. No grills. No pop-ups. No food. We’re lucky I happened to be paranoid and brought this stuff with me.” Three “friends” huddled around a hastily made campfire. Frightening noises echoed through the darkness, surrounded by untamed jungle for many thousands of miles. 

“So I know we did a bunch of stuff today, but we should probably think about tomorrow, you know,” said Mary. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but we already are.” Sani took off his cracked glasses and set them by the fire. “Roa, don’t be a dick.” “Well, Roa needs to get wet or he’ll explode or whatever, so we should probably do that, right?” “…We also need to drink, but you’re right.” “I have a good reserve, and it seems kind of stupid to leave the ship behind.” “Usually, yeah, but we made sure we picked it clean. I don’t think it has anything we can use anymore.” “I guess, but don’t worry about my skin. We should be looking for high ground. I’ve heard one or two ships today but obviously, the shitload of trees makes it a little hard to see us.” with a yawn, Mary silently marked the end of the conversation. The three scooched into each other, something agreed upon quickly as the fire wasn’t enough to stave away the cold night air. As the fire slowly faded, the trio slipped into unconsciousness while the world breathed around them.

The first thing they felt upon waking was the cacophonous buzzing of thousands of insects. The second was the sweltering heat upon their faces, Mary’s skin reddening and blistering. With an aching groan they sat up, their muscles incredibly sore from yesterday’s activities. Insects had invaded the campsite, many making their homes on or within the sandwich of bodies. with a shake, sweep, or panicked flail, they were scattered as the three totally platonic companions surveyed the area. “Shit, we overslept!” “Well yeah, we worked crazy hard yesterday, didn’t we?” “It’s almost fucking noon, we gotta go!” Roa began to feel sluggish as the three rushed to gather their belongings and leave the camp. “Something wrong, bud?” “No, I’m fine. Muscles hurt, though.” The incredible heat, though humid, had taken its toll on Roa’s eternally-moist skin. His scales felt heavy, and his joints started to chafe. Sani felt great, his dry, golden plates adapted to this kind of heat from thousands of years of evolution. Tapping their boots and putting them on, they went on north.

Despite Roa’s immense size, cutting through the thick, verdant jungle proved to be incredibly difficult without any tools. “Man, if only we had one of those bug guys with the knife-hands with us… that would be so much easier!” said Mary, in between a breath of exertion as she shoved away a large fern. “Yeah, all we have are these dinky little knives.” Roa’s brow furrowed as he responded: “Hey, it’s better than nothing, asshole.” After several hours, and a particularly interesting conversation with Mary about spider legs, the crew finally encountered one of their goals: A medium-sized, gently rippling pond. It was crystal clear apart from the leaves floating on top. Roa used what was left of his strength to dive into the pool, sighing in relief as the surface of the water rippled with bubbles emerging from below. “…I always forget he can breathe underwater.” “Yeah, me too.” Sani and Mary dipped themselves in the pool too, after taking off most of their gear. Roa trudged on the bottom before gradually emerging from the pond. “Okay… I didn’t want to admit it but I almost didn’t make it. It’s hot as fuck. My body seriously isn’t meant for this. Thanks for dealing with my bullshit.” “It’s all good, it was messing with me too. I’m gonna have a sunburn for a while…” 

Obviously, their location was a popular spot for many animals besides themselves. They debated what to do as they definitely didn’t want to repeat last night, especially with the increased risk of animals more… threatening. “Do we have anything we could use as a hammock?” Sani suggested as he stroked his crest and washed his glasses in the water. “No, unless we want to go all naked and afraid,” Roa replied hefting a large fallen log above his shoulder. “I mean, I’d obviously be fine with it… but you guys might not be.” “Wearing clothes is fun, you should try it.” “Unfortunately, I don’t think they make t-shirts my size.” “We could always just go old school and make one of those leaf tent things. It’d keep the rain away, and if we put the fire in front, it would hopefully keep all the bigger animals away in case one of them decides they want a midnight snack.” Mary gulped. “What do you mean ‘hopefully?’” Roa sighed, and as the only one of the party suited to intense manual labor, began to get to work finding sticks and small trees he could rip out of the ground. “Hey Mary, could you go collect leaves? While you do that, I’ll think of how to build it, and I’ll also try and make some fiber to bind it with.” “Yeah, I got it. Those big palm leaf ones, right?” 

Fortunately, their small ramshackle “tent” was nearly finished as the hot sun slowly began to set upon the horizon. Roa took another dip in the pond, before picking up his lighter of the ground and sparking the fire. the three crawled in, Roa nearly hitting the roof. “God, we’re so lucky that we found those fish in the pond. I’ve never seen that kind before, but I’m not dead yet, so it’s good enough for me!” “We’re lucky Roa is a god damn beast at catching fish, I don’t know if there’s any even left.” “In my blood, I guess.” The three settled down and drifted into sleep, warm, semi-safe from animals, and with a full belly. The trees sounded off with the cries of many creatures, each living their own life, struggling to survive. The world was blanketed in darkness as night settled in as light faded away. 

They awoke yet again, not missing any body parts, and with much fewer insects crawling in their folds. Their muscles were as sore as ever, but they were ultimately refreshed and rejuvenated from their full meal and access to clear, luke-warm water. It was an early morning, the calls of birds piercing the ambiance. They soaked themselves in their oasis and chatted with each other about plans for the day. “You know, yesterday our goal was to find high ground, but now that we’re here at this oasis I’m not really sure I want to leave, even if we come back later. I mean, what if we get lost?” “Agreed.” “Yeah. this place is kind of bare already, actually. If we set ourselves up here, we’ll probably be noticed, right?” “If we make a bonfire, we’ll definitely be more noticeable, yeah.” Mary stares off into the tree line and idly responds. “Well, if we’re not moving, what are we gonna do today? It’d be nice to just take a break, but we definitely couldn’t do that.” “Unfortunately, you’re right. Like I said earlier, we should build a bonfire, and maybe one of us should start scouting the area.” “If I do that, I might get lost.” “Yeah, you’re shit with directions. I’ll build the bonfire, Sani can probably make it back in one piece. Mary, you should... just follow Sani, I guess.” “Does it really take two people for that?” “What else would you do, though?” “I dunno… something…?” “Yeah, you do that.” Mary’s expression changed from idle thought to one of restrained anger and balled her fists as she prevented herself from saying something regrettable. 

“I know I act like, clumsy, sometimes, or whatever, but you’re always treating me like I’m just dead weight and I seriously can’t stand it. I don’t understand WHY every time I talk to you you act like everything I say is so completely pointless. And wanna know something? It’s always been like this, too! He’s always just perfect and I’m here too. You two're always joking off each other, being pals and yet any time I talk, you shut me down as soon as it leaves my mouth.” Her teeth clenched, and her fists trembled. She looked him straight in the eye, Roa’s expression not changing since the start of her tirade. All three were silent for a moment as the wind blew, making the pond ripple and shaking the trees. Mary began to compose herself, hands relaxing, and taking a deep breath while averting her eyes. Sani was in a state of silent panic as two of his closest friends ripped into each other, averting his gaze to the trees, feet tapping the leaf litter rapidly, body tensing up and emitting a low, involuntary hissing noise from the back of his throat. Roa remained silent for a moment. With a blink, he broke eye contact, turned himself around, and purposefully stepped into the trees until out of sight. The two remaining stared at each other:

“What do we do now?”


	2. Natural Adaptations II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Originally written 2/1/20 - 3/1/20)
> 
> The platonic buds fuck something up and leave, finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, record time!  
> I'm so fucking lazy.   
> I like this, though it took me very, very long to finish.   
> Nobody even reads these but I still feel bad about how long this took.   
> Anyway, I might do more with these characters, but I'm definitely feeling like doing a thing on Roa's homeworld.
> 
> See you in another month, I guess.

“I’m not apologizing.” Roa stared into Sani’s eyes, the emotionless, stoic expression on his craggy face maintained for ten or so incredibly tense minutes. Sani had rushed into the brush quickly after Roa’s departure, in a desperate attempt to salvage the trio’s relationship. “Can you please just do it? It’d mean a lot to her, even if she knew it was only because I told you to.” Roa closed his eyes and heaved a heavy, rumbling sigh, breaking his pissed-off expression for a moment.

“I only apologize when I do something wrong. And I recognize when I do something wrong, you know that. Remember the pond? I like Mary, though she’s annoying as hell. She’s pretty nice, and I have to admit she’s gotten me a few times. But she thinks I’m being an asshole all the time on purpose like it’s because I think she’s insufferable.”

Mary was snapping twigs in two, and throwing rocks into the distance as her sudden resentment slowly receded into bitter silence. She regret snapping like that, though she meant everything she said. She had always been patient, with events and with people. Mary generally tried to keep her more controversial opinions to herself, for the sake of others. As a result, though, when others found out it was often in explosive fashion. Roa was virtually the opposite- when he bottled things up, he sealed it as tight as he could. 

“Well, do you?” asked Sani with genuine curiosity. “No. Well… Not usually. I treat her like I would treat anybody else. She just thinks that I’m doing it personally.” “I don’t really think anybody likes it, you know. You just don’t notice because you’re… colossal. You get a lot of questionable looks. I’ve learned to deal with it, but I’ve spent more time with you than almost anybody besides your family.” Roa sat down on a nearby log, face unreadable as usual but Sani could tell he was in thought. “I’ve never said anything hurtful. Or at least… nothing on purpose.” “To you, you’re just joking, and I understand that. But to a lot of people, it’s an insult disguised as something else.” 

The bright sunlight began to fade, and the distant brush closed in around them. Something heavy fell from the trees and rolled into the underbrush. Roa was silent for a good amount of time, then he stood up. “I don’t… quite understand. But I’ll at least apologize. Plus… it’s getting pretty dark.” “What, afraid of the dark?” Sani smirked and winked. “No, I don’t want to get mauled.” “…I don’t think anything on this planet could lay a scratch on you if it tried.” “We should stick around to test it out, I’m sure you’re right.” “…Pass.” Roa allowed himself a smirk this time as they trudged back through the brush, one after the other. “…Love you.” “I know.”

Mary was sitting under the shelter, in the dark. She hadn’t bothered to look for her friends, nor to light the fire. She was sitting with her hands over her face. Instead of being angry she now thought about the consequences of her outburst. Whatever she expected to happen, it certainly wasn’t the giant and the lizard to come out of the blackness with Roa showcasing a pensive expression, or at least as much as he could. Beastly clawed fingers curled into a ball with each other. As he crouched into the shelter, he avoided looking at them, and he pursed his lips. So bashful! Against all instincts, Mary actually found it kind of cute! She glared at him part confused, part hopeful, and part expectantly. Uncharacteristically her gaze could have melted a hole in even Roa’s natural armor as the meaningful silence overtook the small space. Sani gulped, staring at his toes and nudging him. Not that he would feel it.

“I’m… sorry.” He grit his terrifying, numerous teeth. He was genuinely sorry, though he didn’t really understand what for. “I realize that I’ve been saying shit that must’ve pissed you off. “ She sighed. “What, did he tell you to apologize?” “Yes… but I probably would’ve anyway.” “To be honest, though, I probably shouldn’t have let that stuff get to me. I’ve always gotten mad too easily… and I probably should have told you… or somebody.” “No. This isn’t your fault, really. If you told me, I wouldn’t have stopped. You exploding was the only way to get through.” “I treat everybody like that. It took me too long to realize that nobody is okay with it, they just accept it.” Both of them stared into the darkness, and at the stars above. Sani relaxed, and leaned back against the wall of the shelter with a content smile on his face, closing his eyes. “Because of you- me, we didn’t get anything done today at all. It’s like it went from morning to night in like, 30 minutes.” “Yeah, it does feel like that, doesn’t it?” “How did we let time slip past like that?” “That’s a good question!” 

They woke up again with a slow rise. It didn’t feel like morning; Clouds enveloped the sky, and it seemed like the whole world was a dull shade of gray. “Man, it’s cold!” Sani crossed his arms. “I feel fine.” “Yeah, it’s not.” They all stretched and looked out. The pond’s surface was rippling, caused by a fairly gusty breeze. “I’ll get to work. I’ll be building the bonfire, you guys should clear the area so we don’t make Smokey mad. “Man, nobody’s believed in Smokey Bear for hundreds of years.” Roa shrugged. “Can’t hurt.” 

Sani and Mary got to work, pulling out small weeds, and using whatever they could to uproot the larger plants and ‘relocate’ them. “Well, we’ll be building a firepit anyway, so if anything this is just in cas-“ Sani ceased his explanation as something caught his eye. and he made a sound. “Huh? What?” Mary walked over to where he was staring at the ground. “…Oh. That seems pretty bad.” “Yeah, tracks.” “Looks like a chicken.” They called Roa over, who had made significant progress. “That seems pretty bad.” “Do you know what it is?” They stared at each other. “Why would I know what it is? I’ve never been here before.” “Yeah, my bad…” “Actually, I think I saw this thing in a book once…” 

“This looks like a griffin.” “Wait, like, ‘griffin’ griffin? like, eagle lion thing?” “No, but it reminded the people who found it of one. Four chicken feet. Fuzzy fur. Big teeth.” “These weren’t here yesterday, right?” “No, for sure. Looks like it was just walking around? Or like, scouting us out.” “Why didn’t it come for us?” “They’re animals, not monsters. Maybe it wasn’t hungry, or didn’t think it was worth it.” They continued to follow the light tracks around their whole camp, eventually leading out and into the brush and being lost. “Whatever it wanted, I’m glad it decided to pass us over.” “Actually, I want to try something. I’m getting sick of fish. I could use something new.” “You want… to kill it? That’s nuts, but if anybody could do it, it’d be you.” The sun started to peek out of the clouds, hitting his dull scales. “Well, we’ll see what happens. It might not come back. I wouldn’t…” 

To the best of their abilities, the area around their new bonfire was clear and bare, except for their shelter. They precariously avoided disturbing the tracks, as if it would offend the creature. Large branches, or small trees, were stacked in a way that supported each other. Below, a bed of the driest leaves they could find. A bed of round rocks from around the pond had been placed in a vaguely circular pattern around the tent of branches. They decided that they would go without fire that night, to the discomfort of all of them. The sun passed over the canopy of trees in the distance, a sight they were now used to. The air temperature dropped, and the limited light decreased more. Sounds of the day gradually gave way to the whoops and howls of the night. They all lied together in the shelter, still and silent but all very much awake. They were waiting for a sign- footsteps, a growl. 

A faint noise alerted them from their daze. In any other situation, the footfall would have been imperceptible to a sleeping animal; it stalked around the shelter closing in. It readied its talons. They snuck peeks and saw that it was walking right in front of them. The creature was getting ready to pounce when Roa opened his eyes and rushed out of the shelter with startling speed for somebody so large. They watched as he tackled the beast in a clash of scales and claws. “Holy shit, no wonder they’re banned from contact sports…” “Makes sense now.” After a brief scuffle, they both recovered, shaken. The griffin circled him, breathing heavily. With no warning, it pounced him. Talons flew into his relatively exposed face, quickly rebounding and taking off in the other direction. Roa was bleeding, but he was more capable than ever. “C’ mere, bitch, we’re not done!” He reached out with his meat hooks and grabbed the beast’s back leg. With an incredible roar of effort, a good mix of testosterone, adrenaline, and astonishing strength, he held the talon firmly and swung the creature above him. He brought it down with more force than necessary, smashing it into the ground. It’s breathing was stilted and labored, and it twitched disturbingly. It was hard for Sani and Mary to watch, but Roa only felt satisfaction. It wasn’t dead, but it most certainly wasn’t getting back up. 

“God, fuck, that felt good…” Roa muttered to himself as he submerged himself in the pond, tainting the water with blood and bubbles. “That was… pretty cool.” “Yeah, don’t think I’ll be pissing him off… again.” They both stared at the pitiful creature on the ground. They glanced at each other. “So are you gonna…?” He made a stabbing motion. “Don’t really want to… but Roa seems pretty occupied, and I feel pretty bad…” “I’ll go get you a spear.” They saw the occasional bubble rise from the dark spot in the center of the pond. 

It was deep in the night, but the three were as lively as ever. There was a large fire roaring, sending large plumes of smoke into the night sky. They sat around the fire in the dirt, gazing at the fire or at each other. Roa had come out of the pond and butchered the creature as well as he could with the tools he had. The creature was larger than they were but shared with the three of them, especially Roa, it wasn’t an insane amount of meat. Though, it was more filling than the puny fish Roa had caught could ever be, and they all ate their fill and more. 

Though it was probably detrimental for their health, they stayed up very late, talking with each other and chatting and taking nibbles of their meat until they one by one packed into their shelter, fire burning brightly, with a stomach full of real food. Roa’s wounds, though they bled a lot, were relatively shallow, and after a long soak underwater he came out with but a few abrasions on his dark flesh. They kept the spears close by, though after the display of strength Roa had shown, they were sure they wouldn’t need it. It was as dark as all the other nights, but it didn’t feel like it as they drifted off with better spirits than they had since before the crash. Howling sounded off around the camp, maybe mourning a fallen family member, or perhaps warning others of danger. 

When they arose again, it was past noon. Usually, they would’ve felt panicked, afraid of missing any opportunity, but now they felt a little more optimistic about their situation, their stomachs still digesting and their muscles waking up. It was sunny, as usual, but it was also pretty windy. The bonfire was lit, and had no issue staying lit as gusts of wind blew leaves out of the trees and disturbed the surface of the pond. They were lazing around. Roa was taking a nap under the water, with a slower metabolism than his friends. Suddenly, they heard a powerful gust. The trees shook violently, the pond was rocking back and forth. Then it was still. It was just a gust of wind. 

A few hours later, they heard the loud whine of thrusters above. At first, they passed it off as wind, but it was much louder and seemed to be directly overhead. They realized it could be rescue, and sprinted outside waving their hands. The large craft touched down on the dry patch of ground they had prepared. It was a little bit, but it seemed to work. The door opened, and stairs extended down onto the ground. The pilot and a few others filed out. “Hey, you guys okay?” they shouted as they walked over. “Yeah, we’re okay now!” Sani shouted back in joy. 

Roa emerged from the pond, scaring one of the crew members. “There’s a third one!” The group explained what had happened, and recounted their journey. The ship members explained they were a cargo ship, carrying a stock of goods to a major settlement far away. They agreed on a place to drop them off, and. everybody began to pile back into the ship after they had finished packing up. Mary and Sani were waiting, and Roa was still looking for something. “One second, I want a memento. He unearthed the griffin head that they had stripped of all flesh and then buried. He washed it off in the pond before grabbing his other belongings and joining the rest of them. “Ew, dude!” “Gross!” He shrugged. “Once in a lifetime experience, right?” One of the crew members supervising them looked on. “What the fuck?” he whispered under his breath. “What makes you think you’ll be able to get that through customs?” Sani queried. “Dunno, but I’m definitely putting this on a shelf.” Sani and Roa held hands, and Mary sat close to one of the crew members she had befriended in the short flight. They began to relax, and their lives would be mostly back to normal. 

“Shit, my knife!”


End file.
